KWS Data Protection Policy Statement

Data Privacy Statement

KWS Saat SE and its subsidiaries (hereafter also referred to as “KWS”) appreciate your interest in our company and thank you for visiting our website. KWS takes the protection of your personal data very seriously. We handle your personal data confidentially and in accordance with legal regulations on data protection and with the Data Privacy Statement on this website. In the following, you will find information concerning which data we store and when, as well as how, we use this data.

In principle, you can visit the KWS websites without revealing your identity.

In cases of purely informational use of the website, in other words if you do not register or otherwise submit information to us, we only collect the personal data that your browser sends to our server. If you wish to look at our website, we collect the following data, which are technically necessary for us to show you our website and ensure its stability and security (legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 letter f GDPR)

IP address

Date and time of the request

Time zone difference from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

Content of the request (specific site)

Access status/HTTP status code

Amount of data transferred each time

Website from which the request comes

Browser

Operating system and its interface

Language and version of the browser software.

These pieces of information are analyzed exclusively for statistical purposes. You remain anonymous as an individual user.

Online advice platform “CultiVent KWS Farm Service”

CultiVent is a comprehensive information service for crop-specific and overarching content about our products, especially for corn, sugar beets, wheat, barley, rye, and rapeseed. Here you can find helpful tools (e.g. a search tool for patterns of damage in leaf diseases, planting planners, TS monitoring for silage corn) and calculators (e.g. how much seed is needed, stocking density). CultiVent offers you regional information customized to your growing region, e.g. for crop management of grain, nematode management in beet cultivation, and ground temperatures and heat levels for corn.

Registration is required for access to this service and the information.

Collection, processing, and use of personal data:

Personal data will only be collected if you share such data with us voluntarily, for instance when registering for personalized services such as CultiVent or to enable us to process your inquiries or a contract. The personal data collected will be processed and used primarily for providing the service and fulfilling your requests. It is important to us that only the data that are absolutely necessary (first and last name, postal code, address, e-mail address) are collected. Data that are labeled “optional” or not marked as required fields in the registration are not necessary for the core functionality of the personalized services, but can limit the range of services.

Furthermore, we use and process your information to tell you, using the communication methods you submitted (mail, fax, e-mail, phone) about our products, services, and special offers that could be of significant interest to you, and for carrying out customer surveys. To the extent required by law, your data will not be used for promotional purposes unless you have given us your consent in this regard.

Disclosure of personal data:

For the operation of our website and for the provision of personalized services, KWS also employs subsidiaries from the KWS group or external service providers who support us in processing orders, operating the website, providing personalized services and providing information to customers. These companies may only use your personal data in fulfilling their tasks on our behalf and are obligated to comply with the relevant data protection regulations. Under the circumstances outlined above, data processing may take place in EU countries or countries outside the EU.

To the extent legally permissible or to the extent that you have given your consent beforehand, we also disclose your data to other companies of the KWS Group to be used for promotional purposes. Your data will not be disclosed to third parties outside of the KWS Group for promotional purposes.

Transmission of personal data to state institutions and authorities takes place only in accordance with binding national legal provisions or if legal or criminal proceedings require them to be passed on. They will not be passed on for any other purposes.

Tracking

This website uses various technologies to collect and save data for purposes of marketing and optimization. These data can be used to create user profiles under a pseudonym.

Cookies
We use cookies on our websites. Cookies are small text files that can be placed on your hard drive when you visit a website. These text files are created and sent to you by the web server with which you have made a connection through your web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome). Cookies cannot run any programs or infect your computer with viruses. Their purpose is to make your whole Internet service more user-friendly and effective.

Our websites use the following kinds of cookies. Their scope and how they work is explained as follows:

Transient cookies (a)

Persistent cookies (b)

a) Transient cookies are automatically deleted when you close the browser. These include session cookies in particular. They save a “session ID “with which various requests by your browser can be allocated to the whole session. This means your computer can be recognized again when you return to our website. The session cookies are deleted when you log out or close your browser.

b) Persistent cookies are automatically deleted after a predetermined period, which can vary depending on the cookie. You can delete the cookies in the security settings of your browser at any time.

c) You can configure your browser settings according to your preferences and, for example, opt out of third-party cookies or all cookies. However, please note that you might not be able to use all functions of this website.

d) The flash cookies we use are not captured by your browser, but rather by your flash plugin. We also use HTML5 storage objects that are placed on your terminal. These objects save the necessary data independently of the browser you use and have no automatic expiration date. If you do not wish to have flash cookies processed, you must install an add-on for that purpose, e.g. “Better Privacy” for Mozilla Firefox (https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/betterprivacy/) or the Adobe-Flash-Killer-Cookie for Google Chrome. You can prevent the use of HTML5 storage objects by putting your browser in private mode.

etracker

Tracking-Service by etracker GmbH (http://www.etracker.com)
The data collected using etracker technologies will not be used to identify the visitor of the website personally and will not be combined with personal data on the bearer of the pseudonym unless the data subject has specifically consented to this.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service from Google Inc. (“Google”) The information produced by the cookie when you use this website is, as a rule, transmitted to a Google server in the US and saved there. As part of the IP anonymization, your IP address will first be truncated by Google within an EU Member State or another country that is party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address transmitted to a Google server in the US and truncated there. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to put together reports about website activities, and to provide further services connected to use of the website and the Internet to the website operator. The IP address transmitted by your browser in the context of using Google Analytics will not be combined with other data maintained by Google. You can use a setting on your browser software to prevent the storage of cookies; however, please note that in this case you may not be able to use all functions of this website to their full extent.

You will only be sent an e-mail newsletter if you have explicitly ordered the newsletter in question on our website. If you no longer wish to receive an e-mail newsletter, you can unsubscribe using the link that appears at the end of every newsletter.

Recommendations on Facebook, G+, Twitter, e-mail, and WhatsApp

You can easily share the information on the KWS website on Facebook, G+, Twitter, e-mail, and WhatsApp using the relevant plugins. These “social bookmark plugins” are Internet bookmarks with which users of this kind of service can collect links and news items. On the KWS website, these are only connected as a link to the services in question. Only after clicking on the associated graphic will you be transferred to the website of the respective provider, i.e. only then will your user information be transferred to the respective provider. Information about handling of your personal data by these websites can be found in the providers’ data protection statements.

Your right to information about and the correction and deletion of your personal data:

You have the following rights in relation to us regarding the personal data that affect you.

The right to disclosure,

The right to correction or deletion,

The right to limit data processing,

The right to contest the processing,

The right to data portability.

If you wish to exercise the rights mentioned above, please contact the address below.

You also have the right to complain to the data-protection authorities responsible for you about our processing of your personal data.

Right to contest and/or revocation of consent for purposes of advertising and market research

You have the right to contest the use of your data for advertising and market research purposes or revoke your permission for future use by submitting a short communication to the address below.

Retention period

In general, we will only store your data for as long as is necessary to perform a service that you have requested or to which you have consented. If there are statutory retention periods, your data will be stored in accordance with these legal specifications.

Data Security:

KWS implements technical and organizational measures in order to protect the data we have about you against accidental or intentional manipulation, loss, and destruction and against access by unauthorized parties. You personal data are saved by KWS in Germany. Our safety measures are continuously being improved in relation to developments in technology. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption is used in the processing and transmission of data.

External Links

Our online offerings occasionally contain links that lead to the websites of third parties. If this is not easily recognizable, we indicate that it is an external link. KWS has no influence on the content or form of the websites of external providers. This Data Privacy Statement therefore has no relevance there.

Amendments to this Data Privacy Statement:

We reserve the right to change or revise this Data Privacy Statement from time to time. In this regard, please note the current version of our Data Privacy Statement.

Contact person in case of questions or requests for information:

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or requests for information in connection with our Data Privacy Statement and the processing of your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer directly at the following address: